Woman Frisked, Jailed, For Not Renewing Dog License

“They frisked me and put me in this intake cell with all these inmates in orange jumpsuits,” Becky Rehr said. “I was pretty nervous.”

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan woman heads to court Tuesday after being arrested for failing to renew her dog’s license.

Becky Rehr says she drove to the Kalamazoo County sheriff’s office June 23 to prove that she’s recently renewed the license for the family’s 11-year-old dog, Dexter. Rehr’s 14-year-old daughter waited in the car as her mother was arrested, fingerprinted and held for three hours, The Kalamazoo Gazette said.

“They frisked me and put me in this intake cell with all these inmates in orange jumpsuits,” Rehr said. “I was pretty nervous.”

Failure to license a dog is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and $100 fine.

County animal control Director Steve Lawrence said his office gave the 47-year-old Cooper Township woman numerous phone, mail and in-person notices of the need to renew the license. The last was a phone warning that a warrant would be requested unless she got a license by May 28.

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